Safety-gun.



B. HEMPSTEAD.

I SAFETY GUN.

APPLIQATION FILED NOV. 11, 1908.

Patented June 3, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IIVVENTOR BY mm m ATTORNEY,

B. HEMPSTEAD.

SAFETY GUN.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 0V.11I 1908 1 63,9211. a Patented June3, 1913.

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- l/VI/E/VTOR BY Q.W@m

drawing. I

My invention relatesespecially to the con- "UNITED, STATES PATENT Quince.

BEALL HE PSTEAD, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY-GUN.

1 Application filedNovemberll, 1908. Serial No 462,039.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BEALL'HEMPSTEAD, a citizen of the United States, residing-at New York, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Guns, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying struction and arrangement of shoulder guns,- and hasfor its ob ect the provislon of a safety gun wherein the trigger or triggers are 'so locked as to prevent any possibility of the gun being fired until the butt is pressedagainst the shoulder,'the triggerguard grasped, and the trigger pulled.

To attain the desired end, my invention consists in certain novel and useful combi-- natlons or arrangements of parts, and peculiarities of construction and operation, all

of which will be hereinafter first fully despring connected to. s'aid'rod.

modification of the construction shown in i scribed and then pointedout in the claims. Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial longitudinal section of a gun embodying my invention. Figs. Qjand 3 are like views of modified forms thereof. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical, sectional View of the butt of the gun, and Fig. 5 is a. like view of a modified construction. thereof. Fig. -6 is a perspective view of the locking rod, and Fig. 7 v is a perspective view of the Figs. 5 and 6.

' Like numerals of reference, wherever they occur, indicate corresponding parts invall the figures.

In the line of-slioulder guns as at present constructed all such guns may be accidentally discharged, whenever the gun is at the firing point and the trigger is accidentally moved; and so with the hammerless gun, the hammersare always,at the firing point, and

as for quick shooting'with the old hammer gun,,1t is carried wlth the hammers at the firing point, accidents are frequent, and the dcsignof the present invention is to provide a gun inwhich the triggers are'automatially locked so that before the gun can be discharged the handle of the gun must be gripped, the butt of the gun pressed to the shoulder and the trigger pulled a eombination of movements which could not accidentally take place.

-As at present-designed, guns usually de- Specification of Letters Patent-- Patented June 3,

pend upon human agency to-keep them safe. The hammerless gun for instance, has a button to be moved by the handyto lock the triggers, but the shooter forgets, and as a consequence accidents happen. The same may be said of the hammer gun.v Whether itis being carried in the hunt, or the butt of the gun is on the ground as the shooter is resting and thinksthe ha'mmersofhi's gun are on the safety notch of the lock when frequently they e n t, and so too often ac idents happen. As stated, the object of the present invention is to provide a gun which under all conditions automatically locksthe-.a'triggers,"

whether the butt of the gun is resting on the ground or not-, or Whether thehandle of 'thegun is gripped in the act of carrying;

in neithercase are the triggers unlocked,

but both pressure at the handle of the-gun in combination with pressure at the butt of the gun is required before the triggers'can operate, whlch combined movements are only exerted in the act of firing.

In the drawings, 1 and 2 are the ordinary triggers of a gun, 3 the trigger guard. In Figs. 1 and 3 1t 1s shown as in two parts,-

4 and-5. The part 4 is firmly secured to the trigger plate 6, while part 5 is movable, it being pivoted to the trigger plate at 7, and this movable part constitutes a portion of the handle or grip lever of the gun, and has its movable end fitting close to the stationary section of the trigger guard. This lever or grip section has an extension or inward projecting lug 8, which actuates a locking device 9, and this device engages the triggers until pressure is exerted on the grip lever part when the gun is grasped to be fired,,but said grip lever part is immovable until the gun is This construction is shown inis pivoted at 11 to the trigger plate 6, and at 1 its reverse or movable end 'it is also secured to the trigger plate by a hook 12, so as to allow inward movement of the end, the tugger'plate itself being firmly secured to the stock of the gun by suitable screws. lVith a one piece trigger guard in operating the trigger locking device 9, a plunger 13 is used in place of the.lug 8, as described for the two section guard, the plunger being an in ward extension from the trigger guard. l-lis a spring arranged to bring the device to a lock of the triggers after pressure has been removed from the grip part of the guard at the handle of the gun.

In the one piece trigger guard, the locking rod 10 acts directly on thetrigger locking device 9 itself and the device is operative with either high or low pivot triggers. As a second feature of the device it should be mentioned that its long end must. be the heaviest so as to bring the device to a lock even if the spring should break.

The locking rod 10 may be solid ora tube for lightness. The said rod is actuated by .the butt plate 15 of the gun so as to provide that feature of safety which requirespressure on the butt piece in combination with pressure on thegrip lever at the handle of the gun before it can be tired, and this pressure on the butt plate may be exerted by the shoulder, or by hand if firing from the hip should ever be desired.

In unlocking the triggers, the movement of the grip lever at the handle of the gun in combination with pressure at the butt is, by suitable springs, made automatic. The return motion of the grip lever-is effected by spring 14, its free end'pressing upon the extension 8 from the grip lever 5, Figs. 1 and 3, and this extension, as previously referred to, operates the locking device 9 which acts direct upon the triggers.

- In theone piece. trigger guard it acts direct on 9 as shown in Fig. 2.

The rod 10 is vnotched at 1'7 on-opposite sides and which together form the neck on the rod to work in a slot 18 of a spring 19, and which slot has a circular opening 20 to admit the adjustment of the rod, and

with the sliding of the spring, it brings the neck within the narrow portion of the slot, and as the rod itself cannot pass through, it is thus firmly secured to the spring, and

the spring. is secured to the butt. of the st ockby screws. With this spring may be used a rubber cushion to be hereinafter referred to. -In the construction of the locking rod it may havea screw end 21 of F i s. 1 and 3, or saidend-may be solid with tie rod, as in Fig. 2.. In the first instance and beforethe spring is adjusted to the rod, the rod would be insertedat the butt of the gun and pressed in until itmet the screw end, this end having been inserted at 'the opening inthe stock where the'trigger plate is to be fitted, and with the meeting of the two the red by means ofits thread construction adjusts with the screw end, the red at its butt plate end being slotted so that with the usual appliances it may be turned in t e manner of an ordinary screw. In looking the trigger this screw end or hook end of the locking rod may operate on the trigger locking device as in Fig. 2 or on the grip lever extension 8, Fig. 3, or it'may operate directly on the triggers as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, in which last mentioned case the triggers are to be cut away on top at the locking end as shown in said figure. This construction is necessary in order to permit the swing of the trigger when the locking or screw end of the rod is moved by pressure on the butt piece of the gun. will be observed that in the first case the trigger device is locked, while in the second the extension from the grip lever is locked and this in turn locks the device which engages the triggers, and in Fig. l the trigger is locked direct. In either case the result is the same, for in the first mentioned case, if pressure at the butt of the gun unlocks the trigger device at one point, the triggers are still locked by the device which operates at another. And so in the second case; where the extension from the grip lever is unlocked by movement "of the rod, the triggers are still locked in that there has been no simultaneous movement of the grip lever to act uponthe trigger device referred to. The same may be said of Fig. 1 and in the last mentioned case, although there should be'movements of the locking rod, releasing the triggers on top, they are still locked by the device which engages them at the end, and they continue to be locked until move ment of the grip lever moves this device. In other words, pressure alone at the butt of the gun will not unlock the triggers, nor will pressure at the-handle of the gun unlock them, but in order to fire the gun, there must be a combined pressure at both points and atthe Same time, which no accident could produce. In the figures as given the trigger locking mechanism 9 operates by circular movement, but is equally effective with horizontal movements, the actuating grip lever and locking rod operating in the manner described.

By having the locking end made separate from the rod as set forth, it reduces to a minimum the opening in the stock, for in unlocking the trigger it could move within the fraction of an inch beyond the space cut away for the swing of the trigger. and for the rest, boring of the stock would require only 'just enough to allow for the free'movement of the "rod itself. In other words. the boring would be that of the diameter of the rod. -Ithowever, is not designed to limit the invention to this manner of construction, for what is termed the screw end of the rod, instead of adjusting by thread, it may be welded to the rod, and in this case the boring in the stock throughoutwould be the diameter of the trigger locking end of the rod, so as to admit insertion of the 'end from the direction of the butt of the stock, this construction being possible from the arrangementof the rod spring as described, for although the boring in the stock would be of greater diameter than that of the. rod, the spring-in its manner of adjustment would hold the rod straight, and keep it in the required position for locking the triggers. This solid hook end as referred to, is shown particularly in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and which figure also shows the opening through the stock for the insertion of the rod,'this boring in diameter being that. of the length of the hook end, and as explained the hook end rod is passed in through the butt of the stock while .with the screw end, as previously referred to, it is inserted at the opening at the handle of the gun where the stock is cut away for fitting in the trigger plate, and when this end is in the proper and required position for locking the triggers, the rod is then turned so that its thread end will take hold, the rod being turned as a screw for this purpose.

In further explanation of the butt piece of the un, while it may be in one piece, the

prefera le construction iste have the toe separate and distinct and independently secured to the stock of the gun. This construction is designed to prevent movement, of the rod, which looks the trigger device, or looks the grip lever, or looks the triggers direct when the sportsman is resting and the butt of the gun is pressed 9n theground. With the butt plate in one piece, this actlon would press up the rod, and unlock the triggers. When the butt-plateis in two,

parts ascontemplated in the presentinvention, therewould be'no movement at the heel of the plate or .pivot point, and wlth the toe of the plate made stationary, it would also prevent movement there, and as thepivot section would thus be'prevented from moving there could be no movement of the locking rod. In case however, of rough ground or where the butt of the gun was placed crosswise of a log, or in other like instances,'there might be movement of the rod, but with the double locking of the trigger as in the present invention, unlocking of the trigger from pressure on the butt, does not constitute an opportunity for accidental discharge of the gun, for the triggers are still locked by the grip lever at the handle of the gun; and as explained, in order to fire it there must be pressure at .the butt of the gun, and at the same time pressure on the grip lever at the handle of the gun, v

such a combination of movements as can only take place in the intentional act of oted section of the butt plate, and constitutat 24 and this stationary section or toe piece is firmly secured to the stock by screws 25.

In addition to the foregoing, it should be stated that for assisting the spring 19 which moves the rod 10, it is the design of the present invention to use a rubber cushion so as to insure the necessary movements of the rod in case the spring should break. This cushion is shown in 26 of- Fig. 5. If however, it should be desired to move the rod without the intervention of a spring, this could be accomplished through the use of a washer or disk 27 adjusted to the rod and upon which the ru ber cushion beneath directly acts, this washeror disk being adjusted to the red. by slot arrangement in the manner previously described'for securing the spring to the rod, or thiswasher or disk may be constructed with a neck so as to fasten to the od ment.

scribed a grip lever in two parts-Fig. 1- and a grip lever of one piece-Fig. 2; for purposes of the present application, I elect to limit the ,claims to the. one piece grip lever, and

Having fully described my said invention, what I cla1m as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis set forth in the follow- 111 l. In a gun scribed the combination with the triggersof a pivoted locking lever therefor, constituting the trigger guard, and forming a part of the handle of the gun with grip end of the lever movable within the stock and having a central inwardprojecting arm for actuatby screw thread adjust of the character herein'de'-' In the foregoing specification, there is deing said triggerlocking lever and moving inward for that purposesubstantially as shown and described.

2. In a gun of the character herein the locking mechanism, consisting of a lever pivcted to a log or extension of the trigger plate and impinging against the trigger ends, the said lever operating in a vertical plane to lock the trigger by gravity in case of breakage of the operating spr1ngsub- .stantially as shown and described.

3. ln'a gun of the character herein described the combination with the "triggers of a pivoted lever constituting the trigger guard and forming a part of the handle of the gun, with grip end of the lever movable within the stock, and having a central inward pro ecting arm for operating said trigger locking lever, which is pivoted to a for operating said trigger locking lever and acting in combination with a notched trigger locking rod, ,slotted spring, rubberpad with screw disk adjustment to the rod,the said rod acting upon the trigger locking lever-substantially as shown and described.

5. In a gun of the character herein described the combination-with the triggers of a continuous guard grip lever with movable end passing within the stock of the gun, a vertical acting triggerlocking lever,

van actuating spring, a trigger plate with lugs for the trigger guard, grip lever, triggers, trigger locking lever and actuating spring in combination with notched trigger locking rod, slotted spring and rubber pad,

- and having disk adjustment with the rod the said rod moving to unlock b pivoted shoulder section of the butt ofthe gunsubstantially as shown and described.

6. In a gun of the character herein described the combination with the triggers of a continuous guard grip lever, a vertical operating trigger locking lever, an actuatmg spring, a notched trigger locking rod, a slotted spring and rubber pad with disk adthe'gun, the upper section secured to the gun by blnding screws, and the said section having a downward pro ectmg lug or ext-ion by internal pivot of the shoulder section, bottom section attached to thestock of the gun by screws and with check end for the shoulder section, resilient means for actuating the section, consisting of spring and rubber pad acting in combination, the said shoulder section having a continuous flange toflcov'er the padsubstantiallyas shown and described.

7. In a gun of the character herein described the combination with the triggers and a'pivoted locking lever therefor, constituting the trigger uard and forming a part of the handle of the gun with movableend passing within the stock "and having a central arm. for operating said trigger locking lever, pivoted to a lug or extensionof the trigger plate in a flanged sectional butt of the gun,- theshoulder section of which is connected by internal pivot and actuated by resilient means consisting ofslotted spring and rubber pad in combination with notched trigger locking rodnconnected with screw neck disk-substantially as shhwn and described.

. In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

' Witnesses Y J. S. ONEALE,

P. EDW. J. FIELD.

tension for attachment of the, shoulder secjustment to the rodv and a sectional but-t of 

